The Ink is a Souvenir
by GingershotaTed
Summary: Clarke gets partnered up with the feared rumored gang leader Alexandria "The Commander" Woods to work on a science project over the course of a week. High School AU, two-shot
1. Chapter 1

**Yo. This is going to be a two-shot. So I'm going to take a break from writing to focus on my exams and projects.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own The 100**

* * *

I rush into class five minutes late. I overslept, sue me. I duck my head as I walk past Mr. Jaha and go to a lab station. There are aren't any available ones except for the one _she_ sits at. The Commander, also known as Alexandria Woods, but no one dares call her that. The call her "The Commander" because she's supposedly the leader of a gang, that came about when she started to show off all of her tattoos. The two biggest ones are one circling her arm, and a huge one covering her entire back. Now everyone fears her, even the teachers are afraid I think.

I sigh and hesitantly make me way over to where she sits, she focused intently on her laptop. I quietly sit down next to her but she doesn't look over, thank god. I try to relax as Mr. Jaha begins the day's lesson. He explains that we are going to be working on a week-long project and that the person we're sitting with will be our partners, no changing. I blanche at that. I'm going to have to be partners with the Commander. I look back to my friends who are in this class, Raven and Monty who are already sitting with each other and they shoot me equal looks of apology. When I turn back Jaha has finished talking and Lexa is staring at me expectantly. Yikes.

"So….what should we do for our project?" I ask her. She silently shrugs so I decide to start spewing suggestions, all of which she turns down. I pull out my own laptop and start looking for suggestions.

"How about…uh…something on skyglow?" I ask. I see her eyes immediately light up and sit straighter in her seat before she schools her body again and nods, looking away.

"Sure, sounds good." She says softly, her voice catches me off guard. I've only ever heard her yelling at some unfortunate soul or another, but her normal voice is so gentle. It makes her seem even more beautiful than before-

Wait, what? Did I say beautiful.

I feel my cheeks get hot. "Alright, then let's get to work. How do you want to do this? Do you want to the research or work on the physical portion first?" She shrugs.

"Okay, let's do the research first then figure out a time we can get together to do the physical portion." She nods and we both focus on our computers. Before we know it, the bell rings and class is over. I pack up my stuff and start to head out the door but I'm stopped by The Commander's voice. I tell Raven and Monty to go ahead without me.

"Give me your phone." She orders gently, I comply without question. She takes it and types something in it. "Text me when you're free." She tells me. I nod and scurry out of the room to catch up with my friends and head out of the school and go home.

* * *

The next two days of research go by pretty fast, we actually work well together. It isn't just me doing all the work, she's actually helping out. By now we're pretty much done with the research, we just need to do the physical portion and record our findings. I look over to The Commander who has her headphones in her laptop and is focused intently on her notebook. I see her smirk as she glances back up at the screen and am completely pulled away from what I had been watching before, The Walking Dead. I risk a peek at what she's watching, she shifts, giving me a clearer view. What stuns me when I look over is the fact that she's watching cat videos. Who knew that the great Commander liked cat videos?

A ping pulls us both out of whatever we were doing. The Commander pulls out her phone and turns her body to answer a text, allowing me to see what she was doing in her notebook.

I am met with the sight of multiple crude doodles of Mr. Jaha in different positions from when he was lecturing. I can't help but laugh a little.

The Commander looks back at me curiously, putting her phone and notebook away. "Enjoying yourself there, princess?" I clear my throat and calm myself down, noticing that I attracted the entire class' attention.

"'S nothing." I tell her, and she seems to drop it at that.

The bell rings, signifying the end of the day and I gather up my stuff and head to my locker. As I put my stuff away someone shows up behind me, I can't see who though until I turn around to find myself face to face with the Commander. Her cheeks are tinted red and I can assume that mine are probably the same. I don't know what brought it out but I saw this to be the perfect time to tease her.

"So..Who knew that The Commander likes cat videos?"

She rolls her eyes and scoffs. "Honestly, who doesn't. and you can drop the 'Commander' title. You can just call me Lexa."

"Okay….Lexa." She glances away and steps back, turning to head out. I stop her before she can get too far.

"Hey, Lexa!" She turns back to face me. " I'm free tomorrow, by the way!" She nods and gives me a smirk before walking out the double doors and into the parking lot.

* * *

The next day the school day goes by quickly and we just fool around during science since there isn't much we can do in there. When the day ends we both head in different directions, having agreed to go to her place when it gets dark enough to work.

I get in the car with Bellamy, Octavia, and Raven and they immediately bombard me with questions like they have every other day since this project was assigned. I assure them of how surprisingly nice Lexa has turned out to be and this seems to quell them enough. We all head over to my place, greeted by my step-father, Marcus and chill on the couch for hours.

* * *

After dinner, I head out to go to Lexa's like I said I would. When I get there I am met with the sounds of arguing. It's in a language I've never heard before. Hesitantly I knock on the door, hearing the arguing cease and the door opens immediately, Lexa standing in front of it. God, she looks beautiful, she always does. She has her hair up in a sloppy bun and is wearing a tank top and loose shorts, her shoes are off. She looks sweaty and that's when notice the interior of the house. A large mat takes up a lot of the floor of what I assume is the living room and all the furniture is pushed out of the way.

"Klark." She greets me, and the way she says my name sends shivers down my spine. She moves out of the way for me to come in which I do.

"Is everything okay? I heard arguing." I ask shyly.

She cocks her head in a really cute way and I blush. God why am I blushing so much lately. Realization soon fills her eyes.

"That was just my brother Lincoln and my sister Anya. Nothing to worry about." She assures me, gesturing to a tall blonde woman and buff man sitting at an island in the kitchen. They give me a small wave, standing up and walking towards us stopping when they stand on either side of Lexa. I feel like I'm being evaluated. I shift uncomfortably.

"So, you're Clarke, huh? Anya's told me about you." Lexa glares at the woman and whacks her on the arm.

"Anya, shof op." She orders. Anya shrugs and walks away. I can see that indifference must run in the family. Lincoln still stands there.

"I've seen you before." He says out of nowhere. I look at him confused. "You're Octavia's friend, right?" I nod yes. He stretches out his hand. "Hi, I'm Octavia's boyfriend." I shake it and recollection comes to me. She hasn't introduced us yet but I've seen the two of them walking the halls holding hands when they think no one's looking.

Lexa's invades my thoughts. "Alright, go away Lincoln. We have a project to finish."

A smirk appears on Anya's face. "I mean I don't know. How do we know that you're actually going to do it? I was put in charge of you two reckless children. For all I know you're just going to _ses em op."_

Lexa glares at her sister. _"Dison nou chit ai bants en yu get daun-de in."_ She looks to me and signals me to follow her to the back which I do. _(That's not what I'm going to do and you know it.)_

* * *

 **So I'm going to stop this here for now, I'm going to take a break from writing to focus on my exams and projects. I won't be gone too long, maybe just like a week, then I'll get back to A Most Peculiar Girl. Leave me suggestions of what you want to happen in the next chapter of it and maybe I'll put it in.**

 **So, until next time, peace**

 **-Ted**


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry for the delay guys but I'm back. Just needed to take the weekend and focus on catching up on homework and getting over my writer's block.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own The 100**

* * *

I let Lexa lead me through her house and into her room. While she arranges her notes on her desk I take the time to look around. Her room looks normal, not anything like how I imagined it would look, what with her reputation. But at the same time, it's very fitting. It's very organic looking with dark greens and earthy tones.

Lexa leaves the room for a minute, telling me she'll be back. I take the time to look closer at the things in her room. Trophies from various sports sit on a shelf attached to the wall above her bed, most of them are martial arts. Huh. Another wall is almost completely taken up by a large bookshelf that can barely fit all of the books she has. Most of them it looks like, are in a different language.

Next to the bookshelf is her desk, very neat. She has her notes scattered out in an organized fashion in front of her laptop which was on a research page. In place of any artificial lights, Lexa has candles put in various places in the room.

One of the candles, which must have been recently lit, sits on a nightstand below a small shelf that hold various trinkets. Next to it hangs an old leather jacket. I step closer to get a better look. On the shelf are small things like a note, button, and necklace with a ring on it. Underneath all those is a photograph. I take it in my hands to see what it's of. The first thing my eyes are drawn to is Lexa.

She looks young. Maybe around twelve. She's smiling and looking like she's genuinely happy despite what the circumstances look like. The setting looks like an old, run-down neighborhood. Lexa's clothes are slightly ragged and she has dirt on her face, hands, and knees, like she had been rolling in it. Her normally contained hair is a mess. Her arm is wrapped around another girl whom I take in next. She is in a similar state as Lexa is.

The other girl is just slightly taller than the young Lexa and stares lovingly at her while the picture is taken. Around her neck rests the necklace with the ring that is now on the shelf. She has dark hair and looks very much like she could be Lexa's sister. The one thing that stands out the most though are her hypnotizing blue eyes. _'Were they friends?'_ I wonder to myself. There had been talk of someone who Lexa was close with dying in a shootout with another gang, but despite Lexa's intimidation, I had never believed anything about gangs.

I don't get much more time to ponder that thought as I hear Lexa's footsteps on the old wooden floor getting closer. I quickly put the picture back where it was and move back to where I was standing when she left the room. When Lexa re-enters the room carrying two plates of pizza, she smirks at me.

"I figure we might get hungry while we work." She shrugs. She sets the two plates down on her desk and opens her window, confusing me for a second, before stepping through it and turning back to grab the plates.

"Come on." She encourages with a wave, and I follow her as she makes her way onto the roof.

When I make it up as well I see the setup she already has ready. We agreed to take the last picture of sky glow here after getting it in various other places so that afterwards we can set it up on the physical presentation. We sit down right next to the camera and she passes me a plate of pizza which a I graciously take and we eat in a comfortable silence.

* * *

We make our way back into her room after we eat and get the pictures we need. I sit patiently on her bed while she hooks up the digital camera to her computer and prints it out.

When she returns and we start to work on the physical presentation is when I decide to break the pleasant silence and speak up.

"Hey Lexa, can I ask you something?"

"Sure, ask away." She complies, looking up at me.

"I saw the picture on your shelf." I admit. "Was that Costia in the picture?"

"Yes." She says, bringing her focus back down to the project.

"Were you close?"

"Yes." She says softly. Silence falls over us once again, only this time it's much more tense and uncomfortable.

"I heard she passed away. That's very sad." Still silence.

"Would you mind if I asked what happened to her?" I ask tentatively. Lexa sighs before setting down her pen.

"What do you know about back then?" She asks.

"Nothing." I tell her shaking my head, very intent on listening to her point of view. It's not a total lie, I have heard things, rumors. But as stated before I don't believe any of them and try to steer clear.

She runs her fingers through her hair and I wait patiently for her to speak again. "I wasn't born here, I came from a small country in Europe, and moved here when conditions were getting rough. I was eight. My family, we moved here with a few others one of which being Costia's family. We connected instantly, became best friends. Life here wasn't easy for any of us. There weren't too many nice people where we lived, but we toughened up and made our way through life here. Her parents got sick, and none of us really had any money so she spent most of her time with my family caring for her. We got closer. Over the years, we both realized that we had feelings for each other, and started dating when we were eleven. When we were twelve we were forced to move to a different neighborhood just after her parents were taken by their illness. The people there weren't too kind either- in fact they were worse."

She took a shaky breath and tried to keep the composure she was slowly losing. I was beginning to really regret bringing it up.

She continued. "One day, we were on our way home from school when we were both pulled into one of the alleys by these thugs. They threatened our lives if we didn't leave. We thought we were being bold when we told them we had no plans of leaving." She says with a small chuckle, before her passive expression returned to her face. "They slit her throat. As a 'warning'. They left us there, her dying, bleeding on the ground, and me doing everything in power to keep that from happening. She died in my arms. We ended up moving three weeks after that."

"Lexa, I'm so sorry." I say apologetically.

"No, it's okay. Frankly I'm glad to have gotten that off my chest. To tell someone the truth instead of having them assume some horrible thing about her. I hate anyone's perception of her becoming that warped, especially mine, so I've kept her memory preserved in small things so that I never forget what she means to me. Those little trinkets you saw, and the tattoo on my neck." She gestures with her finger for me to look. On her neck is a small tattoo of the infinity symbol and something goes through my heart.

"I've noticed that you have other tattoos, do those mean anything?" I ask. She nods.

"The one on my back represents all the people that I've lost- or left behind in moving to America. The one on my arm represents my status. As commander in my spirit." I listen intrigeued

I decide to change the topic after that. "So, you said you were from a different country. Was the language your brother and sister speaking from there?"

She smiles at me. "Yeah. Trigedasleng. It's kind of an old language, not many speak it anymore, but it's one way we can hold onto our heritage." I nod in understanding.

After more conversation about various topics, we get back to work on our project.

* * *

The next day I run into her in the parking lot, telling Bellamy and Octavia that I'll meet up with them at lunch, and jog to catch up with her. I meet her at the door and walk inside with her to our lockers.

After the previous night, the whispered rumors about my friend become louder to me and I can't make myself ignore them anymore.

"I heard her and her dyke girlfriend came here after they were banned from some stupid country for murder."

And.

"Bro I don't even think she's human."

And.

"She should've just stayed where she was so that we all didn't have to be so scared that she was going to kill us like that Costia girl."

Filled my ears, made my rage grow until I couldn't take it. I slammed my locker shut, surprising everyone, even Lexa, and turned to face the three boys that were talking about her.

"Hey! You better watch what you say. You have no idea the shit she's been through! You're all completely wrong about the person she is! And you're all so conceded that you haven't taken the time to get to know her like I have." I snarl.

"Oh shit everybody back up. Clarke will go all Wanheda on you." Lexa chuckles.

The boys raised their hands in surrender and were about to say something else when Bellamy stepped through the crowd that had gathered when I had my outburst. He stepped in front of the boys and made them leave.

After that the crowd began to disperse and we got on our way to our classes.

"You called me Wanheda." I point out. She nods in response as we walk to our science class. "What does it mean?"

She turns her head and grins at me.

"Commander of death."

"I like it."

* * *

 **So, here it is. Chapter 2 of The Ink is a Souvenir like i promised.**

 **So, until next time, peace**

 **-Ted**


End file.
